Wellesley Announces $24 Million Energy and Sustainability Initiative
On Oct. 29, President Paula Johnson announced that the college would be undertaking a “multipart energy initiative” in order to exceed the goal for reducing greenhouse gas emissions set forth in the college’s current sustainability plan from 2016. As part of the new plan, the college would allocate $6 million to improve energy efficiency in campus buildings, replace the steam chiller plant with an electric chiller plant and work to get more renewable and green energy on campus. The initiative was developed by the Power4Women task force, which consisted of students, faculty, administration and members of the Board of Trustees. While the development of the initiative has been underway for the past twelve months, it became especially crucial when the college’s cogeneration plant failed this past summer. In response to the announcement by President Johnson, Renew Wellesley and EnAct, two student groups on campus dedicated to improving sustainability on campus, sent out an email stating that the College’s new energy plan “is an important first step, however it is not strong enough.” Included in their email was a petition for students to sign, urging the College to adopt renewable energy by 2040.
Boston Globe Features Research of Wellesley Economics Professors
Wellesley Associate Professor of Economics Olga Shurchkov ‘01 discussed her upcoming research for an article in The Boston Globe Magazine’s annual “Women and Power” issue. Professor Shurchkov, along with Wellesley Associate Professor of Economics Kartini Shastry and Lingjun “Lotus” Xia ’18, conducted a study about the differences in response between men and women when they are presented with feedback about their performance. Shurchkov told the Globe, “Men attribute unexpected bad news [about their performance] to bad luck, but women attributed unexpected bad news to ability.” Professor Shurchkov currently teaches ECON 324: Behavioral and Experimental Economics.
Administration holds a Listening Session on Wellesley’s College Demonstration Policy
On Oct. 31, Wellesley’s Chief Communications Officer Elizabeth Gildersleeve hosted a listening session for members of the Wellesley community to discuss the current demonstration policy of the College. At this time, the administration is working to draft a new policy regarding student demonstrations and protests in light of protests happening in other college campuses across the country and to prevent problems in the future. 35 people showed up, including around twelve students. Those that attended the listening session expressed their concern over the lack of trust between students and administration; many students found that their voices were not being listened to by the administration at times when student voices were needed the most.
